The fact that we as a society don't have a realistic safety net in place for that 70 year old KFC employee is rather depressing.

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That is a meaningful comment, I hear it often, because I'm 72 and I am still working. My brother will always ask when am I going to throw the towel in, and when I answer, "To do what?" He will tell me to get a hobby. I have one, I just happened to get paid for it.

Bruce, I'm not being deliberately critical, I agree that working in a fast food joint wouldn't make the top 50 of most people's wish list, but maybe the 70 year old lady just happens to like engaging with those she works with. Maybe she was lonely, there's lots of reasons for working past the recognised retirement age. It could well be that she is financing a medical bill, something that I forget, living in a country where healthcare cost is free at the point of delivery, but she could also be financing other things too, as well as having the sense of purpose that going out to work gives you. Some people cannot face the last years of life just hanging around, waiting for God.

Television advertisements for a couple "financial services" outfits -- etrade and TD Ameritrade -- mock elderly people still in the workforce. The message is that you won't have to do anything undignified in your later years if you invest your scratch now (with these a**holes) and if you don't you'll have yourself to blame for having to wear a hotdog suit at age 85 or for spinning records in a disco when you're pushing 90.

That is a meaningful comment, I hear it often, because I'm 72 and I am still working. My brother will always ask when am I going to throw the towel in, and when I answer, "To do what?" He will tell me to get a hobby. I have one, I just happened to get paid for it...

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I feel the same way.
I typically reveille at 04:00, hit Starbucks at 05:00, hop the 06:13 Rock Island for Chicago.
And love the gig and town.

My cell phone service provider was bought out a few years ago, prior to that I was never bothered, other than the occasional text offering extra this, that & the other. But the new company plague me, they just don't believe that my phone is just for contact. Smart phone thpugh it is, I've never bothered to work out how to get online with it, so it's just text & phone. I was thinking of changing providers, but others have said that they are all into the hard sell.

The Lounge is the nearest that I get to social media, so even if I connect to the web it wouldn't be a lot of use. However I do see people shopping, driving, dining out, glued to their screens, so out of interest I looked up phone use, or should I say, phone addiction? Amazing!https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37468560

Damn. For the moment, I will avoid my weekly smalltown Döner Kebab. It seems to me, that the last two times something was either curious with the garlic dressing or the onions or whatever, because my throat reacted unusal, with light inflammations and now, I got an aphta on my right tonsil, too.
I think, now it's happening, as it was expected. The general decline of Döner-quality in Germany probably comes finally to my smalltown, too.

But no real problem! Then, I will just eat other things on thursday. Life's good...

I've had this cell number since my first phone.
Really thinking of changing my number soon and never giving out my cellphone number to anyone but family. Any business transactions get my Google phone number.

That is a meaningful comment, I hear it often, because I'm 72 and I am still working. My brother will always ask when am I going to throw the towel in, and when I answer, "To do what?" He will tell me to get a hobby. I have one, I just happened to get paid for it.

Bruce, I'm not being deliberately critical, I agree that working in a fast food joint wouldn't make the top 50 of most people's wish list, but maybe the 70 year old lady just happens to like engaging with those she works with. Maybe she was lonely, there's lots of reasons for working past the recognised retirement age. It could well be that she is financing a medical bill, something that I forget, living in a country where healthcare cost is free at the point of delivery, but she could also be financing other things too, as well as having the sense of purpose that going out to work gives you. Some people cannot face the last years of life just hanging around, waiting for God.

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I agree, no retirement for me.
After our two businesses take off I'm going back to bartending. Easy fun social work with enough pay to donate to those that need.

It's not even telemarketers for me, it's any of these automated robot calls -- confirm your appointment, vote for your candidate, Channel 6 news is taking a poll, blah blah blah. Me and my rotary dial hang up as soon as we realize it's not a real person, no matter what the purpose of the call happens to be.

My grandfather, may he rest in peace, never understood automated phone services, and fortunately didn't live to see them become dominant. The local radio station had a "weather phone" back in the '70s, using one of those big Bell System message units with the special magnetic disk, and he'd call it and would always say thank you at the end, even though he was talking to a machine.

Damn. For the moment, I will avoid my weekly smalltown Döner Kebab. It seems to me, that the last two times something was either curious with the garlic dressing or the onions or whatever, because my throat reacted unusal, with light inflammations and now, I got an aphta on my right tonsil, too.
I think, now it's happening, as it was expected. The general decline of Döner-quality in Germany probably comes finally to my smalltown, too.

But no real problem! Then, I will just eat other things on thursday. Life's good...

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You got to watch out for garlic and onions. If you have any sensitivity to them at all, it'll only get worse as you get older. I used to be able to tolerate garlic, but now even a nibble sends me into violent cramps.

Our dentist sends out so many text reminders of an appointment that it has become annoying noise. I get it, they lose money if you don't show which is why we - and most people - honor our appointments, but to bombard everyone with multiple reminders for the problem of the few is a bit much.

Every business on earth has some built in loss - stores expect some shoplifting and spoilage / in my business we give out a lot of advice (and provide other services and aid) that you never get paid for despite the client saying they will / people make restaurant and hotel reservation and don't show / some client don't pay for special orders when they come in and the merchant has to "eat it -" that is business. The answer isn't to brow beat all your customers for the few bad pennies. One reminder, IMHO, is reasonable; our dentist sends out three or more starting a week before the appointment date - grrr.

You got to watch out for garlic and onions. If you have any sensitivity to them at all, it'll only get worse as you get older. I used to be able to tolerate garlic, but now even a nibble sends me into violent cramps.

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Yes, I think, the older I get (now 34), the more sensitivity I got on such things. And it seems to me, that my Döner-store didn't pay enough attention on their job, the last time and the garlic dressing and the onions were too sharp. Anyway sharper than before. But who wonders? There was a change of ownership, last year and the guys now appear mostly lustless.

My cell phone service provider was bought out a few years ago, prior to that I was never bothered, other than the occasional text offering extra this, that & the other. But the new company plague me, they just don't believe that my phone is just for contact. Smart phone thpugh it is, I've never bothered to work out how to get online with it, so it's just text & phone. I was thinking of changing providers, but others have said that they are all into the hard sell.

The Lounge is the nearest that I get to social media, so even if I connect to the web it wouldn't be a lot of use. However I do see people shopping, driving, dining out, glued to their screens, so out of interest I looked up phone use, or should I say, phone addiction? Amazing!https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37468560

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Yes, I think, the older I get (now 34), the more sensitivity I got on such things. And it seems to me, that my Döner-store didn't pay enough attention on their job, the last time and the garlic dressing and the onions were too sharp. Anyway sharper than before. But who wonders? There was a change of ownership, last year and the guys now appear mostly lustless.